Why Los Angeles Rams third-year edge defender Terrell Lewis will break out in 2022
A former five-star recruit, Terrel Lewis earned serious playing time on Nick Saban’s loaded Alabama defense as a true freshman. Over the next two seasons, he was limited to just four total games with an upper arm injury and a torn ACL. He displayed his talent once again in 2019. As a result, Lewis was drafted midway through the third round in 2020 (84th). Without the medical concerns surrounding him, he would have been even higher.
His pro career so far has been punctuated by injuries, but there is much to look forward to in the upcoming season. Here are five reasons why Terell Lewis will breakout for the Los Angeles Rams in 2022.
#1- Terell Lewis has NFL experience to build on
As mentioned above, injuries have kept him off the field. He’s been ailed by knee, shoulder, ankle and back injuries. He has logged just below 500 career snaps across 19 games. However, his snap percentage did increase from 25 to 48 percent in the games he played. He made eight appearances in 2020 and played in 11 games last year.
Rams OLB Leonard Floyd with praise for OLB Terrell Lewis this afternoon. Floyd said Lewis has been taking care of his body the entire offseason and can tell in training camp that he’s pass-rushing with confidence in his knee.
Lewis was able to log two tackles for loss, two sacks and four quarterback hits as a rookie already on 124 snaps. In his 367 snaps last season, he recorded four TFLs, three sacks, seven total pressures and a forced fumble. He certainly has the talent to become an impact player if he can stay healthy. In 2022 the Rams will need him to step up more than ever before.
#2- He will play more for the Rams in 2022
Financial factors were part of the Rams' decision not to bring back Von Miller or replace him with a veteran. But it does still show that they believe in that room. Between Miller and Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, they’ve freed up 689 snaps. The only addition on the edge being this year’s seventh-round pick Daniel Hardy from Montana State. Hardy has tremendous potential, but is still a pretty raw prospect.
The first challenge for Lewis will be beating out Justin Hollins for that second OLB job opposite Leonard Floyd. He only surpassed that mark in the first of their playoff games when they smashed the Arizona Cardinals. The Rams put their second-string defense on the field for more than just the final quarter.
So clearly L.A. didn’t make it a priority to get him onto the field. This was understandable with Floyd and Miller both playing at such a high level. However, not recording a single sack or TFL after week one won’t convince them to change that a whole lot. But the job is up for grabs and Lewis should snatch it up in 2022.
#3- He has tremendous ability
Lewis has the force in his hands to set up a physical edge against the run, just stone-walling tight-ends trying to drive him out wide. Even working from a lot of wide-nine alignments, he was able to reduce that space and reset the line of scrimmage to stop the flow of lateral schemes. He’s never shied away from attacking pulling linemen, creating chaos in the backfield.
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Progressing to Lewis as a pass-rusher, he’s more much more power-based in that regard as well. He operates with great forward leans and extensions on bull-rushes. He still has the explosion off the ball to win around the edge. He packs a sudden ghost move or chop and shoulder-dip to go underneath the reach of offensive tackles.
He’s best when he can combine those two things, converting speed to power. His long-arm in particular is pretty tough to deal with once he gets the guy across from him to stand up or shift his weight onto his heels.
#4- The Rams will utilize his strengths more in 2022
The Rams ran a lot of tilted fronts with Lewis and others on the edges in those wide alignments. Along with overloading one side and drawing up more exotic games up front on longer downs. Lewis can change direction in a hurry on inside slants, with a strong rip-through to get up to the quarterback as he defeats the hands of the guard.
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He was used on some wide loops from the edge all the way to the opposite A-gap, where he really sells those first two steps. He can then make a hard cut to work across. However, he also doesn’t shy away from banging into guys as a set-up man, allowing his teammates to wrap around.
It’ll still take some time to perfect the timing in those games up front. But his strengths fit in well with the way defensive coordinator Raheem Morris wants to attack in obvious passing situations. Especially with his ability to win those matchups more regularly, when he’s isolated with tackles.
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The Rams played a lot of base downs with three down-linemen and two outside backers in wider splits. But they would regularly peel one of those edge guys off and drop the shallow zone defenders away from it. Lewis can bump tight-ends to funnel them towards his teammates, before dropping into the hook or flat areas.
And while he only had one PBU last season, he showed a feel for putting himself in the passing lanes as a delayed rusher. He was good at getting his hands up when he saw the quarterback load up. So while we’ll see him rush regularly, he can be an asset in that regard as well.
#5- The Rams will have worked on his weaknesses
On the negative side, Lewis can be unreliable while holding his contain responsibilities.He attacks blockers too straight on in the run game and doesn't consistently keep the outside arm free. After giving college tackles trouble with his speed with Alabama, he worked on converting that into power. Now he needs to threaten the outside more, if he’s not coming from those wide alignments and is working a steeper arc.
He’s still looking to improve the set-up of his spin moves. He needs to start stepping into the space of blockers and use their outside pec to push off from, to incorporate a reliable counter. But these are all more teaching points that he will have to work on. If his coaches continue to work on these areas, they can let his natural talent flourish and he can be a regular in the lineup.
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Staying healthy is obviously key for Lewis. But if can play a full season, he could be a productive player under one of the brightest defensive minds in football.
Unlike offensive players, it’s tough to set a statistical bar for defenders to really measure their impact. But double-digit tackles for loss are certainly on the table for Lewis. What you really want to see him be able to do is creature pressure in key moments, when he’s afforded those one-on-one matchups. This is certainly something he is capable of.
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